Omaha billionaire Warren Buffett is giving away an enormous
amount of stock in his multinational conglomerate, Berkshire Hathaway, he
announced Monday.

The gifts are part of an annual gifting of stock – Buffett hopes
to give away 99 percent of his wealth to charity, and does so gradually in
gifts every year.

The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, the foundation run by
Microsoft founder Bill Gates and his wife, received the largest chunk of the
stock -- $2 billion in Class B shares. The Foundation funds education
initiatives in the U.S., works to expand access to healthcare, and battles
extreme poverty.

The remainder of the stock giveaway went to Buffett's own foundation
and the three foundations belonging to each of his three children. Buffett's foundation
received 1.75 million shares, and each of the children's foundations received 1.2
million shares. Each B
share was worth about $115.29 at midday Monday.